Nobody Ever Said It Would Be Easy
by CassandraHolly
Summary: Because sometimes Dougie gets out of hand, and it's their responsibility to reign him in.- Requested by ash-rox
1. Tablets

**Iyaa! So yeah, this was requested by ash-rox, who wanted abit of a spin off from Dougie's Big Day, where it mentions their right to punish him. So yeah- tbh I'm not pleased with this chapter buut, I kept her waiting for too long so. :P This is gona be multi- chaptered. So send in ideas for punishments? :')**

* * *

><p>"No."<p>

Harry took a deep breath in as he glared at the fifteen year old, standing obstinately in front of him, chin set.

"_Yes_."

"_No."_

Hary glanced momentarily to the tablets on the side- the tablets for asthma that Dougie was _supposed _to be taking every morning and _had _done every morning until Harry was left alone with him.

Apparently, he only did what Tom said.

Wasn't that jst _dandy_?

"Take the fucking tablets, Dougie." Harry snapped, patience rapidly deteriorating.

"No!" Dougie glowered up at him from under long eyelashes, looking stubbornly at the pills. "I don't _want _to"

"What- why?"

"Because, because I..." Dougie trailed off, and Harry waited, eyebrow raised. "_I don't want to._"

Harry opened his mouth then closed it, careful not to start yelling. He knew, even if Dougie didn't, that proper etiquette did not permit one to yell at someone when you've only known them for three weeks. Yes, that's right- three weeks into the band, and this stuborn little _shit _was already making things tougher than they needed to be. He gritted his teeth and stared at Dougie, waiting for the younger to break eye contact, which he didn't. Hary skimmed through endless conversations and details he'd heard concerning Dougie and how to care for a child, searching for the solution for _what the fuck to do_.

Because he was panicking.

Hary Judd, master of serenity, was panicking over the stubborn- donkey attitude of the fucker with the too- baggy shorts.

_"Dougie can be stubborn sometimes..."_

_"...When scolding a child, you need to remember to take into account the possible reactions of- Harrison Judd, stop throwing paper at John and listen, I'm here to teach not watch you mess around..."_

_"..Yes, sometimes he just eeds to vent..."_

_"...His mum said he's never had trouble with taking them, so..."_

Dougie's lips curved up as he watched Harry's jaw working soundlessly. "Aw, getting a tad upset?" He taunted.

Harry hit him.

Okay, he reckoned as his hand connected with Dougie's head, okay, maybe that was a _bit _over the top.

"You know you deserved that." He remained calm as Dougie gaped at him, hand covering his ear. "Now." Harry was really getting into the role of his father; he straightened his shoulders and looked down at Dougie with a stern expression. "I think you need to go to your room and stay there for a while."

"What- but- you-"

"Don't you?"

"No, you can't, you _can't-"_

"I can. I'm nineteen, I'm one of your legal guardians and therefore it remains in my right to discipline you as I see fit, and apparently you have an obnoxious streak which is not going to work out if you _want this band to succeed_." Harry said quietly. "Now go upstairs. I'll be up with your tablets in an hour, maybe you'll realise by then exactly how to act mature and like the fifteen year old you are, not the four year old you seem to _think _you are."

Dougie blinked and wordlessly climbed the stairs, his quiet footsteps muffled by the slam of his door. Harry breathed out. "Ehehehe... one nil to Judd."

* * *

><p>Dougie sat on his bed, arms wrapped around his knees, silently mouthing the words to the Blink song playing in his headphones.<p>

He hadn't meant to make Harry _that _mad. He didn't want it to end up with Harry _hitting _him. It wasn't Harry whacking him that hurt him, though; it was how easily Harry had snapped. Harry was the only one Dougie was sure could deal with him, bt if he was wrong, maybe he shouldn't stay here. Maybe he should-

He looked up as a shadow fell over him, and after a pause took out one of his headphones. Harry sat down and passed him the tablets and a glass of water wordlessly; Dougie took them and swallowed two, not meeting Harry's gaze.

"Why did you make it so hard?"

When Dougie didn't answer, Harry sighed.

I caled your mum." Dougie looked up at him in horror- surely he hadn't ruined it all, surely he wasn't going to be sent back?

"Nothing serious." Hary continued. "I asked her about the whole situation. She told me..." He paused. "You were pushing me, weren't you? To see how long I could hold out, to see if I could last longer than your father did before leaving you."

Dougie blinked and looked at his knees, ashamed. "No."

"You sure?"

"...No. No, I'm not."

Hary sighed. "We're not close enough yet for me to ask you about your relationship with your family, or to offer you advice with whatyou're going through... we can fix that. We _can _be amazingly close and when we are, I _will _be there for you. For now, though, we need to discuss what's going to happen, yeah?"

Dougie just stared at his knees, cheeks flushed. After a moment of silence, he nodded minutely.

"Right." Harry paused reflectively. "I understand what you were trying to do, but the point remains that you were, to put it frakly, being an obnoxious little shit." He smiled to diffuse the insult. "Some of the stuff you said and did was jst uncalled for-" The images of Dougie bringing up Harry's schooling, accent, money, and then throwing the tablets at his head sprang to mind. "So I don't think I should let it pass." He took in the way Dougie was now leaning back slightly and gave a startled sigh. "Dougie," He said quietly, "I hit you lightly. I'm not your father; don't expect me to hurt you."

Dougie looked up at him. "Sorry." He mumbled.

Hary smiled slightly. "I think," He said slowly, "For now, I'm just going to confiscate your phone for a few days."

Dougie swallowed his habit of yellingback and nodded slightly. At Harry's gaze, he sighed and handed over his phone from under his pillow. Harry pocketed it, then ruffled his hair.

"I don't hate you, Dougie, and I don't want you to hate me... but you're still a kid, being in a band doesn't change that- and being a kid involves trial and error." He smiled again and waked out, sighing deeply as he left the room.

Picking up the landline absently, he briefly informed Tom of what had happened.

"It was the right thing to do," Was Tom's reply.

That was only the first time one of the three older boys had had to deal with Dougie's mood swings- there were others, and lots more at that.


	2. CD

Tom looked up as the front door opened. He set down his comic and poked his head out the living room door to see Dougie struggling through the front door, loaded down with various bags from the supermarket.

Tom rushed over to help, grabbing a few off him and lugging them to the kitchen before turning back to the seventeen year old.

"Where's Danny? Isn't he supposed to be helping y-"

At this moment, Danny strolled past, eyes glued to the Kerrang! Magazine he was reading.

"I would comment on the lack of sympathy you apparently have for Dougie's non- existent ability to carry more than two bags at a time, but I'm too stunned that you're actually reading something." Tom said drily.

Danny and Dougie both turned wide eyes on him.

"You what?" In unison.

Tom shook his head. "It doesn't matter." He and Dougie began unpacking the bags, Dougie rattling off a monotone to fill the silence- "And they didn't have any honey bread, so I got the pumpkin stuff instead, cause you said once you missed that from home, and Danny said you said you wanted chocolate milk and I'm pretty sure he made it up but I got some anyway, just in case..."

Tom smiled slightly as he listened, then pulled out a small rectangular plastic case from one of the bags. Dougie went silent, then:

"That's, um, for you."

Tom blinked at the C.D- a Beatles Compilation- and looked at the blushing boy in front of him.

"...For me?" He echoed, confused.

"Um. Yeah. Mum sent me some money, and I wanted to... get you it, cause you said you wanted it."

Tom laughed, fell silent, then laughed again, bemused. "Cheers, mate, that's really... sweet." He looked at it again and his smile grew to a grin as he read the list on the back.

"All my favourite songs, as well..." He flashed a grin at the beaming blonde, and placed it back on the table as they continued unpacking.

* * *

><p>Later on that night, Harry nodded slowly as Tom finished telling him about the present. He held the case in one hand, and Tom frowned as he failed to answer.<p>

"Jealous?" He laughed, confused.

Harry looked up from the disk. "Nah, that's all good, mate. Sweet of him. But I don't get," He held the case up and flipped it over, "Why the security tag is still on it."

Tom fell silent.

"Oh. Oh, shit."

* * *

><p>When Danny wandered in two hours later, he was immediately pulled down on to the sofa by Harry, while Tom stood in front of him.<p>

"Woah, woah." Danny looked at them both, confusion and slight fear on his freckled face. "Whatever it is, I didn't do it."

Tom rolled his eyes, then held up the C.D. "Danny, did Dougie pay for this?"

Danny frowned at it. "Didn't even know he got it... why?"

"He gave it to me, and the security tag's still on it."

Danny looked at him. "He filched it."

"Stole," Tom translated for Harry, then looked back at Danny. "He said his mum sent him the money."

"His mum don't send him fuck all, she's poor as."

Tom bit his lip, and Harry leaned back; he could translate that for himself, and he knew as well as the others what was going on.

"Why?" Tom murmured.

"Cause he wants you to like him." Danny said flatly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world and he had this conversation everyday. He then looked at Harry. "You can let go of me now."

"Oh, right. Sorry." Then, "But he knows Tom likes him."

Danny sighed, bored. "He wants to make sure. It's like when you... I dunno, when you top up your credit on your phone, make sure you still have some, just to be sure. He's pretty insecure, yeah?"

Tom and Harry digested this, then Tom opened his mouth, and Dougie walked in.

He stopped when he saw their serious faces, and blinked. "What's wrong?" His eyes moved down to the C.D.

Tom waited for him to go pale, walk away, look scared, but he didn't. He just raised his eyebrows and waited.

"Dougie," Harry asked from behind Danny, "Did you buy this?"

Dougie hesitated. "Yes."

"With money?"

"What kind of a question is that?"

"One you need to answer."

Dougie's expression turned petulant. "Fine. No."

"You stole it?"

Dougie's eyes narrowed, and his arms folded. "Yeah."

"Why?"

"He _wanted _it! There's nothing wrong with getting stuff for people!"

Tom stepped in before tempers got out of hand. "You said your mum gave you money."

"She ain't got any money."

"Then you lied? So you knew it was wrong?"

"I knew _you'd _think it was wrong!"

"What's that meant to mean?"

"You have money, you can buy it! You never need to do it, you don't know what it's like to want to do something nice but not be able to- anyway, I got you a fucking C.D for no reason, least you could do is be _grateful_! Jesus!"

And he stormed out.

"Well," Danny said absently, "That went well."

* * *

><p>"Dougie, I've stolen stuff for people before."<p>

Dougie turned to see Danny leaning against the wall behind him. He glowered and turned back to the pool he had his bare feet in.

Danny came and sat down on the tiles next to him, pulling off his sandals and splashing his feet in next to Dougie's. They sat in the sun for a while in silence, then Dougie spoke in a quiet voice.

"What're they gonna do?"

Danny rolled his head back to look at the sky. "Prob'ly tell your mum, make you give it back, ground you."

Dougie looked at him. "Did they tell you?"

"Nah, mate, they did it to me when I filched a football last year."

Dougie blinked. "You did? I never..."

"Knew about it?" Danny completed. "They wouldn't have told me about this if it weren't for that I'd know why you did it, mate. They ain't complete assholes, they just wanna know the truth. It ain't right, nickin' stuff."

"It is if it's for someone else."

"Two wrongs don't make a right."

Dougie rolled his eyes. "Now you sound like Harry."

"He preaches to me a lot, it rubs off. Anyway, you should go talk to them about it."

Dougie shook his head, and Danny sighed, not unkindly.

"Want me to get Harry out the way?"

He knew how it felt, to have been caught stealing by the richest member of the group, who would never consider such a thing.

Dougie nodded.

"Alright, mate."

* * *

><p>Tom looked up and smiled as Dougie watched him from his bedroom door.<p>

"Come on, Dougs," He said kindly. "Let's go return that C.D."

* * *

><p>The day after Dougie's three weeks of being grounded came to an end, Tom looked up from his comic to see Dougie holding out a C.D and a slip of paper.<p>

It was a Beatles Compilation C.D, and a receipt.


	3. Cigarettes

Dougie stood in the silent living room and exhaled. The house was, apart from himself, totally empty. All three other band members were with their girlfriends, leaving him alone in the house.

Alone, and bored.

Oh, and pissed off. Don't forget pissed off. Primarily because this whole fucking scenario was just proving how much of a loser he was (even _Tom _had a girlfriend, Tom was a geek, how did he have a girlfriend?) and secondarily because he and Danny had had an argument that morning and he was too stubborn to let it drop. Well, why shouldn't he be? _Danny _was the one being an ass. _Danny _was the one who said he wasn't allowed to smoke. _Danny _was the one who got Tom involved, and who had agreed when Tom pointed out that Dougie was only fifteen so it was illegal anyway even though _Danny _started smoking when he was thirteen goddamn years old-

Wait. Was that a packet of cigarettes on the sofa?

Dougie walked over and picked the box up. It _was_. And it was open.

Curiously, he pulled one out and examined it. He flicked it around in his fingers and placed it between his lips. Moving over to the mirror, he took an imaginary drag and exhaled.

Cool.

"Fuck it." Dougie turned and began running up the stairs. He walked in to Danny's room and surveyed the mess. There was bound to be fifty million lighters scattered over the place...

* * *

><p>In a few minutes, Dougie was sat on the concrete outside the kitchen window, staring at the backyard. He held the lighter to the end of the cigarette and flicked it on. For a second the end flicked red, then it died down again. The next few attempts were all the same.<p>

Dougie swore and frowned at it. How did Danny light them...?

An idea struck him, and Dougie stuck it between his lips. He pictured the last time he'd seen Danny light up, inhaled, and flicked the lighter-

There.

Dougie stared, cross eyed, at the lit cigarette sticking out from his mouth.

Now what?

Ah, yes. Take a drag.

He did so, and spent the next few moments narrowly escaping choking to death.

"H-Holy _shit,"_ He gasped eventually, then cleared his throat and regained his composure.

The next drag was more of a success, as was the next. Dougie began to smile. Sure, it tasted foul, and he felt like he was going to puke. Sure, he was too busy listening for the others to arrive back home to even _try _and relax.

But it was _badass._

He finished it in record time (he supposed that when you had access to unlimited amounts of cigarettes, you didn't need to make the most of every drag, as Danny and his deal with the man at the corner shop proved. Apparently, using one's fame to get blueberry muffins sent to the shop was all it took to receive six packs of twenty Malboro Reds a week) and stood up, looking for a place to put it out. Not the ashtray- Danny was surprisingly good at noticing things when he wanted to be, and it would be _just like him _to count the butts and see one extra- or the ground. Dougie crossed the garden and chucked the butt over the wall before running back into the house. He dropped the lighter back in Danny's room, sprayed himself with enough Lynx to drown a small African tribe and brushed his teeth harder than he had done since the night before his last dentist appointment. Finally, he changed his shirt and fell back on his bed, grinning from ear to ear.

Does one cigarette, he wondered, make a person a heavy smoker?

Probably not. If so, Danny would have needed an oxygen tank and the ambulance station on speed dial by now.

And there wouldn't be any problem with his asthma, right? Nah, Danny had asthma.

Didn't he?

Dougie swore and punched his mattress. Who knew one tiny fag could cause so much internal warfare?

* * *

><p>"Hi, Doug." Dougie poked his head over the banister and grinned before leaping down the stairs.<p>

"Hey, Tom. Hey, Harry. Hey, Danny. How was your day? I ordered a pizza, I mean I know it's early, but, like, I'm hungry. Well, I mean, not _starving_, I ate lunch, I had a sandwich, and by the way did you know the mayonnaise is gone off? Yeah well it made me feel ill but I'm loads better now, anyway, must run, duty calls, well, mum's gonna call, bye!"

And he bolted.

Tom and Harry stared after the blonde in amazement. Danny sauntered over to the cupboard and pulled out a box of Coco Pops.

"He smoked," He said, amiably.

Tom and Harry turned their heads to gaze at Danny.

"You what?"

"He smoked."

Tom blinked. "Why would you think that?"

Danny waved a hand after Dougie, inadvertently lobbing a Coco Pop at Harry's head. "He looks happy, even though you yelled earlier- and his grudges are usually held for longer than that Japanese film you made me watch. He looks sick, and I know for a fact the mayonnaise is not 'gone off' because I ate it all last night, so the only place it's _gone to _is my digestive he's rambling, which he does when he's nervous. Happy, sick and nervous? He's been smoking like a chimney pipe, and by the by, are you aware that these Coco Pops have melted chocolate inside them? Because Holy _Mary _these things are good."

Tom and Harry looked at each other.

"It's your turn." Tom said flatly. "I did it last time."

"You were the one who told him not to smoke!"

"You agreed!"

"Make Danny do it."

They both looked at Danny, who was putting Coco Pops on his nose and then removing them with his tongue.

"Fine. I'll do it."

* * *

><p>"So," Harry said as he sauntered in, "How many cigarettes did you smoke today?"<p>

Dougie's heart did a flip, misjudged the distance, and landed in a painful heap at the bottom f his stomach.

"Um," He said, "I didn't smoke. You crazy? Haha."

Harry stared at him, shaking his head. "You're a terrible liar, Dougie," He said flatly.

Dougie narrowed his eyes and stood up. "Fine. I smoked. Big deal, I'm going to die from cancer tomorrow, let me go write my will-"

"Oh, grow up," Harry said disgustedly. "And while we're on the subject of maturity, why the hell would you _do _that? To try and get one over on Tom, for yelling at you? Try and prove you're the big man, sauntering around breathing smoke everywhere? What, do you want to be _Danny_?"

"Well why don't you go and _yell_ at Danny!" Dougie said hotly. "I never see you saying all this crap to him, and he basically _breathes _fags-"

"Danny started smoking when he was _twelve_, Dougie. That was before the band even _started_, besides which, we all know he started because he grew up in a family where ashtrays were more commonplace than a solid meal a day, the chances of him never starting were nil to begin with!"

"Why are you so against me doing anything I want to do? Why are you such a _freak _about me doing stuff like this? I can't do _anything _here! You're worse than my mum!"

"Because we care about you!" Harry threw his arms up. Dougie took a step back, but Harry didn't pause. "Because we don't want you to die when you're twenty, because we don't want you to end up stuck in a group of 'friends' who introduce you to weed and binge drinking and cocaine! For fucks' _sake, _do you think me and Tom enjoy yelling at you every pissing week? Like Hell do we! But we have to, because we care about you and you're obviously too busy trying to be something you're _not _to have some self respect!"

Dougie gazed at him in silence, mouth slightly open. Harry stared back, breathing heavily.

Suddenly, Dougie collapsed back on to his bed, staring at his feet.

"Okay." He mumbled.

Harry raised his eyebrows. "'Okay'?"

"Okay. I'm... I'm sorry. Um. I didn't- I mean, I thought you were..."

Harry waited, still not ready to help him out.

"I thought you were just, y'know, being a dick. Yelling at me, cause you could, I mean. I don't _know_," And Dougie sounded frustrated now, looking at Harry with desperation, "How was I s'posed to know you _care _about me when you're always _yelling_!"

Harry sighed, shook his head, and leaned against the wall. He gazed at Dougie contemplatively for a moment; the younger boy dropped his eyes back to his knees, shoulders sagging.

"Well, now you know." Harry said quietly. "There's nothing more I can really say to that, is there? Because now you know how much we love you, even though you're so fucking annoying sometimes it makes me want to scream." He said this with light humour; Dougie's lips pulled up in a small smile. "And now you need to _swear _to me that you're never going to do that again. IF you want to be a prat and do something we said not to, then we can't stop you, you know. Butwe can sure as hell be mad at you for it, especially when it's something like this, which we banned you from doing because we have a genuine reason for it."

Dougie nodded, and Harry pushed himself off the wall. Before leaving, however, he looked back and said, "Oh, and when Danny puts two and two together and realises that it was _his _cigarette you took, you're going to be paying for it. Quite literally, I'd imagine."

Four hours later, when all four were sitting back in the living room, Danny shot out of his chair. He whirled to face Dougie, eyes wild, cheeks flushed.

"You!" He shrieked, jabbing a shaking finger in Dougie's direction with the force of a large truck heading down a steep hill at 90 miles an hour. "You little _shit_, you _filched _my _fag!"_

Dougie blanched, scurried back up the chair and launched himself off of it all in one motion, anding in quite an impressive position on the floor. Danny drew himself up to his full (or as full as a 5'8" seventeen year old _can _be, anyhow) height before throwing himself in Dougie's direction. Dougie responded with a yelp known to most people as the sound a stepped-on dog would make, and bolted.

Harry looked at Tom. "I consider this crime," He said thoughtfully, "To be rightly punished."


End file.
